Best/Worst courses that you've played

Hey everyone, just thought this would be a great place to get a list together of the best and worst courses that you've played at. Please feel free to give reasons

Best - Old Course, The Belfry: Hard but very rewarding course
Cumberwell Park: One of the best club pros in England in John Jacobs, fantastic course

Worst - West Wilts: Very unaccommodating atmosphere, course fairly easy
Chippenham: Often driving over other holes is just waiting for an accident!

Best
Old course at Hawkstone Park. One hole (2nd?) very poor condition due to overhanging trees and lack of sunshine but otherwise excellent and very picturesque
The Oxfordshire. GLad I didn't play it on a windy day though

Worst
Forest of Arden: perhaps I was expecting too much but was very disappointed. Constant noise from nearby M42 and a very average course apart from two or three on the back nine

Too Many course to list best and worst but I will give a course that fits in with the theme of the thread and it happens to be one and the same place:

Amongst the best: Pre 1998/9: Gillingham GC. Long from back tees: Tight driving off every tee 3 long par 3's 1 shortish par 3 with very tricky green. 2 risk reward Par4's big risk but worth a go at them though. Good tough Par5's a real challenge and anything around Par or Below for 18holes a great score especially in windy conditions.

Amongst the worst: Post 1998/9: Gillingham GC: 1 long par 4, the rest all no more than a drive and a 9iron/PW. 7 Par 3's only 1 over 150yards the shortest registers at 100yards off the plates! And average par 3 130yards. 3 Par 5s only 1 of which is more than a driver and a 5iron of the plates. Not even tight off the tees anymore. Long and short of it is they sold half the land the course was over, let them build a road through the best part of the course and fitted in a mickey mouse place on what they had left so they could fund a million pound rebuild of the clubhouse which wasn't needed as the old one had character and life now they have a soulless building that's an eyesore and no practice ground as they sold that land too!

A shame a great old course that used to draw in a good selection of Pro's to its pro-ams produced some great county players and Am's for its open event to now being a club that doesn't have a pro-am as the pro's see it as a pointless track, all the good Am's now playing elsewhere as a round of -3gross tends to see handicaps go up .1 for Cat 1's and the Open barely has a player outside the membership in it!

Progress isn't always positive!

The best course for me on a personal level is the Old Course at Vilamoura. Stuning views, especially stood on the first but a great test with plenty of challenging holes. My own couse at Gorsty Hill is brilliant with plenty of thinking to do on many holes. Some holes can look inviting, but it can bite you if you don't hit the fairways and the greens are maginificent.

The worst course is in Yorkshire, Sawdon: an absolute joke. Yes cheap and somewhere you can hit some balls, but thats about it. 9-holes squeezed into a huge field with some large greens shared, which means criss crossing and being wary of flying balls. The fairways are all tight due to big pines which seperate fairways and used as protection from flying balls. The yardages are way out with 2 par 5's supposed to be just over 500 but turn out to be 600. There's a lso a par 4 that nobody has ever hit the green in regulation!! Without making up your own local rules as we did: free drop out of the trees (If the ball comes down) You could walk off with big number card

Ok well had a quick rethink here's my actual best and worst courses:

Best by far and count myself lucky enough to have played it in a 3day competition and it was free:

Shinnecock Hills: The ways its laid out, the superb condition it was in and the way it can be set up. For all golfers to be tested puts this as my No1 course I have ever played and will ever play. (Mind you am playing the blue monster this summer for free)

Worst: probably because of my expectations of the place and how disappointed and ley down I felt by the layout, the general condition of it and the fact it just felt lacking in what so many told it had is:

The old course St Andrews. (The new course there was far and away superior)

Most courses played on a fine day have some redeeming features, however unpromising they seem to be when you arrive.

On the other hand, even well known and liked courses can be pretty unpleasant when played on a cold, sleety wet day in February.

I'm very fortunate to have played some superb courses but the ones that stand out for me are Royal County Down, Sunningdale Old, Turnberry, The Georgian near Atlanta and Valderrama.

Worst, Fleming Park in Eastleigh. First time I played it was with an old boy who when we got to the 6th tee told me " this is the really long tough hole". Nobbled a 3 wood off the tee and got comfortably home with a 6 iron. Must have been all of 350 yards and that was the longest hole on the course!!

Best: TOC, Simply the most fun you can have playing golf

Worst: Hard as thankfully I have not played a true doak 0, but most enjoyable was a course called swanston near edinburgh. Built on a very unsuitable site on the side of a hill used as a ski slope.

Is the best & worst courses somewhat tainted by the fact you did not play well at these courses ?

So the best being the rounds you remember because you played well.

My best courses are Old Course Villamoura, The Belfry, & Turnberry (Ailsa).
All of these courses I played really well on the day. So have very clear memories of the course. Also liked Arnie's course as Villamoura (Victoria). Remebered for my chip in at 18 & also for over hitting my approach to 17 to land in the water.

Worst course would have to be Larkhall Municipal, 9 holes where the young neandrathals used to pop out of the trees & pinch your balls.

I noted with interest that Gregers is the only one to mention the Belfry as being a great track. I hated the place and it was waterlogged when I last played it. I think over rated is the term I'd use and Cardon Park is another so called top course that doesn't get into the Doc good course guide.

Seems the the Belfry is a bit of a 'love it or hate it' course. Many people consider it a potato field but I guess it would be good fun to play the signature holes because of the Ryder Cup history.

Not sure that qualifies it as a 'great' course though but it's all about having fun

I, too, didn't think the Brabazon course was too great, but playing the 10th and the 18th is a must-experience event.

drive4show wrote:Seems the the Belfry is a bit of a 'love it or hate it' course. Many people consider it a potato field but I guess it would be good fun to play the signature holes because of the Ryder Cup history.

Not sure that qualifies it as a 'great' course though but it's all about having fun

D4S When I played it the tees had been brought well forward due to wet conditions and the course being over played. So the 10th had to be taken on ...... smashed a drive which pitched on the green with no chance of stopping, went into the cabbage and hit a tree and bounced back through the green and stopped in the fringe just short of the beck. Managed a birdie but the luckiest one ever, the only hole I enjoyed that day, even Christie jnr's hole was a lay-up after a great drive as the ball just plugged, leaving me too far back to have a go, plus my but-plug came out and too many people watching.

Best course (I'm going to name 2) :
Turnberry - such a great course, superb layout, challenging and rewarding
Royal Dornoch - each hole is different, very traditional, challenging and requires good shotmaking

Worst Course:
Halzelmere - terrible design, unfair holes, impossible to play in the summer, squeezed into too small a space. should be turned into a 9-hole course. Mind you it's also why Luke Donald is so short off the tee but a great scrambler

Best - Kingston Heath in Melbourne. Now officially ranked no.1 in Australia ahead of Royal Melbourne. Quality, variety, pure class. I must also give an honourable mention to Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand - if you've been or seen pictures you will know why!!

Worst - Le Toussrock in Mauritius. It promises so much, and in places looks so stunning, but is real mickey!!!

Best course
Royal County Down, one of the most spectacular golf courses in the world and it is really hard and a true test of your golf.

Worst
Kelso
Terrible course and so easy up and down short straight par 4s almost every hole and if i played there I would have half at least of the handicap I do.

Best Course ........hmm. The Honourable Company probably, if not Gullane 1 or 2.


Worst.....well as said before, most courses have redeeming points, but Cambridge Golf Course unfortunately does not. Flat, boring, in poor condition and cheap (it needs to be).

Mercurio wrote:I, too, didn't think the Brabazon course was too great, but playing the 10th and the 18th is a must-experience event.

Agree 100% there. 9th is a good hole too, the rest you can keep.

Best course I've played is Valderrama, worst is probably Rushmere in Suffolk - more dog turds than grass.

Best - Kingsbarns or The Kings Course at Gleneagles

Worst - Airthrey Golf Course. It belongs to Stirling Uni and gets hardly any maintenance to it, gouges missing out of the greens where nutters have tried to take full shots etc. It's a good place to get kids started though, if they bothered to spend any money on it, it could be a super little pitch and putt course.

Best course for me is a couple for differing reasons-

Royal St. Georges for it's challenge.

Old Course, St. Andrews for the experience. I know that it's not the greatest course even at St Andrews but every hole is so memorable because of it's familiarity that it is the greatest golfing experience that you can have, IMO. It has a presence about it that makes it just so awesome that you ignore its flaws and I think that the many critics of the course look at the course objectively and not with their heart.

Worst course - going to rebrand this as biggest disappointment because there are loads of rubbish £20 courses where you get what you pay for.

The London Club - Fantastic condition - Tees perfectly flat, fairways tight and greens like billiard tables. Least interesting design for a golf course that I have seen. I honestly could not now think of one memorable hole. To me it is perfect for those that do not like The Old Course...

I haven't played a huge number of courses, but the best was Royal Porthcawl and the worst Henley in Arden...

I'm not a hugely travelled golfer, but of the courses I have played I must say Royal Birkdale was the best. Can't think of any course with a better collection of par3s - none of them are massively long, but playing from each of the tees is an absolute pleasure - I considered aiming for the doughnut bunker just so that I could say that i've played out of it! I played it this last November, but even at that time of year it was in perfect condition. And I'm one of the few who thinks the 17th green should be left in all its roller-coaster glory! That green is great fun - and ultimately isn't that what the game is supposed to be?!
Worst?...probably Standish Court. Classic case of 18 holes where only 14 should fit, and the boggiest fairways I've ever had the displeasure to walk.

sharrison01 wrote:

The London Club - Fantastic condition - Tees perfectly flat, fairways tight and greens like billiard tables. Least interesting design for a golf course that I have seen. I honestly could not now think of one memorable hole. To me it is perfect for those that do not like The Old Course...

I bet you played the International course at the London club, which is well maintained but dull. It has 2 memorable holes in my opinion: the 12th, a par 3 over water from an elevated tee, and the 13th a par 5 skirting round the right hand side of a lake, with a second fairway to give you the riskier option to go round the left hand side of the lake.

The Heritage course (the one designed by Jack Nicklaus and used for the European Open) is MUCH more interesting. Much more imaginative use of countours, bunkers and rough. But access to this course is restricted to members and guests.

raycastleunited wrote:

sharrison01 wrote:

The London Club - Fantastic condition - Tees perfectly flat, fairways tight and greens like billiard tables. Least interesting design for a golf course that I have seen. I honestly could not now think of one memorable hole. To me it is perfect for those that do not like The Old Course...

I bet you played the International course at the London club, which is well maintained but dull. It has 2 memorable holes in my opinion: the 12th, a par 3 over water from an elevated tee, and the 13th a par 5 skirting round the right hand side of a lake, with a second fairway to give you the riskier option to go round the left hand side of the lake.

The Heritage course (the one designed by Jack Nicklaus and used for the European Open) is MUCH more interesting. Much more imaginative use of countours, bunkers and rough. But access to this course is restricted to members and guests.

Have played both several times. Know a few corporate members and am even at the stage where I don't really have any interest on a freebie to play it. It's also practically on the M25 slip road and just has an awful atmosphere with the members. I actually heard one of them say to the pro "do you know who I am?" when the course was closed for an hour due to rain. Definitely the worst course that I've played and can't stand the set up I'm afraid...

My list:

Best - Loch Lomond, surely the most beautifully manicured course in the world after Augusta, with stunning views, and an incredible all round luxury experience when you take into account the clubhouse and practice facilities. The course itself is long and challenging, with a lot of risk / reward decisions.

Worst - I'm restricting this to 18 holes, as there are a fair few 9 holers which are dreadful but happily exist as a transition from pitch and putt to full size courses. Ruislip, West London. Flat, boring, a bog in winter, concrete in summer, nothing memorable.

raycastleunited wrote:Worst - I'm restricting this to 18 holes, as there are a fair few 9 holers which are dreadful but happily exist as a transition from pitch and putt to full size courses. Ruislip, West London. Flat, boring, a bog in winter, concrete in summer, nothing memorable.
Worst - I'm restricting this to 18 holes, as there are a fair few 9 holers which are dreadful but happily exist as a transition from pitch and putt to full size courses. Ruislip, West London. Flat, boring, a bog in winter, concrete in summer, nothing memorable.

Fairlop Waters fits that description.

Another poor course but was priced as a poor course is Surrey National. A few years ago I saw a promotional offer for Surrey National and not knowing anything about it but the fact that Surrey has an abundance of great courses I assumed that it must be a really great course. Turned out to be an absolute cow's field and was actually called "Happy Valley' before the rebrand which is a much more suitable name...

sharrison01 wrote:

raycastleunited wrote:

sharrison01 wrote:

The London Club - Fantastic condition - Tees perfectly flat, fairways tight and greens like billiard tables. Least interesting design for a golf course that I have seen. I honestly could not now think of one memorable hole. To me it is perfect for those that do not like The Old Course...

I bet you played the International course at the London club, which is well maintained but dull. It has 2 memorable holes in my opinion: the 12th, a par 3 over water from an elevated tee, and the 13th a par 5 skirting round the right hand side of a lake, with a second fairway to give you the riskier option to go round the left hand side of the lake.

The Heritage course (the one designed by Jack Nicklaus and used for the European Open) is MUCH more interesting. Much more imaginative use of countours, bunkers and rough. But access to this course is restricted to members and guests.

Have played both several times. Know a few corporate members and am even at the stage where I don't really have any interest on a freebie to play it. It's also practically on the M25 slip road and just has an awful atmosphere with the members. I actually heard one of them say to the pro "do you know who I am?" when the course was closed for an hour due to rain. Definitely the worst course that I've played and can't stand the set up I'm afraid...

Fair enough. It does have a very corporate feel to it. Have only played there during the week through work, but can imagine it is a very soul-less place at the weekend. I still think the Heritage is a nice layout (I don't mind long walks between holes) but not everyone's cup of tea!

I really can't imagine ever playing a golf course called Happy Valley.

Kelly Brooke's happy valley, on the other hand...

The London club just has absolutely no soul and feels like it doesn't have anything natural about it. It was just plonked in a farmer's field on the M25 and then by charging £25k joining fee everyone thought it must be good. Pre European Open it was £70 round and they couldn't get people to play it, hence the original owners went bust, then the next owners went bust. Now they charge £120 and have a somewhat solid corporate side but it will probably be bought out again soon as once the European Open novelty wears off it will just be an over priced, noisy, uninspiring golf course that is easy to get to and that's about it.

Raycastle I'm full of envy, Loch Lomond is one place I'd love to play and almost managed it a couple of years ago. We were at a function and one of the blokes at my table bid £5k (Charity auction) for a 4-ball to play it, and won. I couldn't make the date, but the guys flew up to Glasgow and were collected by chopper and taken to the club, for an overnight in the hotel. They met their caddies at 8:30 the next morning (Had to pay for caddies or no play) By 9am on the 1st tee the fog came down and sleet and rain meant play delayed, followed by course closed. Taken back to Glasgow at 4pm for a flight home totally gutted. It cost them a bomb for the one night and food and the bar bill was extortionate. I laughed my chicken off

Doc wrote:Raycastle I'm full of envy, Loch Lomond is one place I'd love to play and almost managed it a couple of years ago. We were at a function and one of the blokes at my table bid £5k (Charity auction) for a 4-ball to play it, and won. I couldn't make the date, but the guys flew up to Glasgow and were collected by chopper and taken to the club, for an overnight in the hotel. They met their caddies at 8:30 the next morning (Had to pay for caddies or no play) By 9am on the 1st tee the fog came down and sleet and rain meant play delayed, followed by course closed. Taken back to Glasgow at 4pm for a flight home totally gutted. It cost them a bomb for the one night and food and the bar bill was extortionate. I laughed my chicken off

Doc, I was so lucky, flew up from London after work, arrived at Glasgow airport on a beautiful September evening. Driver picked up our golf bags off the carousel, next time I saw them was on the 1st tee. We went straight to the locker rooms to change and squeezed in 9 holes. I remember my tee snapping on the first hole and the ball feeling like a rock becasue they were still freezing cold from the flight. Following day dawned bright and sunny and we played a full round with caddies, lots of little side bets (snakes, camels etc) with the caddies getting in on the action. The course was fantastic, very little run on the fairways so played long. You also get your clubs cleaned, shoes polished and generally get to feel like royalty for the length of your stay.

sharrison01 wrote:The London club just has absolutely no soul and feels like it doesn't have anything natural about it. It was just plonked in a farmer's field on the M25 and then by charging £25k joining fee everyone thought it must be good. Pre European Open it was £70 round and they couldn't get people to play it, hence the original owners went bust, then the next owners went bust. Now they charge £120 and have a somewhat solid corporate side but it will probably be bought out again soon as once the European Open novelty wears off it will just be an over priced, noisy, uninspiring golf course that is easy to get to and that's about it.

Have to say i'd agree on the International being a severly dull layout but I do like the heritage course its a decent test of your game it you get to play it from the very back tees, i've been fortunate enough to play it a fair few times and in competition for far less than the £120 fee they charge their, but thats because I know one of the Pro's their we grew up playing the game together, but you right the main source of income to the London Clubis the corporate side as this is what my friend mainly deals with is the corp guys coming through his doors. They also do quite well with magazine shoots being held their and golf shows.

No matter what though it is over priced and they tend to try and bring in the rich and famous and hope that this is what will keep them afloat. They have put themselves in the same price bracket as course like Wentworth and Sunningdale but it has none of the prestige as it doesnt have the same background and it never will until it can put itself on the map by hosting consective number of ET events, that being said, it has become a regular part of the Q School process

ive been lucky enough to play almost 100 courses now and i still rate the west course at north berwick as my favourite. from start to finish the course is a classic 9 out, 9 in course and if the wind is blowing a real test of golf and shot making. sam fox (not the page 3 model) the starter has to be the most accommodating man ever to work in the golf industry.

the worst course has to be haltwhistle in cumbria. its a farmers field made out to look like a golf course and the greens when we played in june last year were quite simply disgusting. my front garden gives a truer test of putting! i wouldnt go back and play it if someone paid me too!